For those who believe that women in 19th-century Russia were solely concerned with housework and childcare, while men reigned supreme in the business world, this book will convince them otherwise. Drawing on her extensive research, historian Galina Ulyanova demonstrates that both merchants' daughters and women from all economically active classes were well-versed in matters of finance and business dealing. The social status of female entrepreneurs ranged from townswomen and soldiers' wives who managed small craft businesses and retail stores to magnates and eminent merchants, such as the noblewoman Nadezhda Stenbock-Fermor, owner of steel rolling mills, and Maria Morozova, owner of Russia's largest textile factories. What was the attitude of these women toward wealth? What business development strategies did they choose? Were these entrepreneurs able to combine firmness in business with gentleness and caring in the home? The author answers these questions by citing dozens of fantastic stories of female success that challenge our understanding of women's place in pre-revolutionary society. Galina Ulyanova is a Doctor of Historical Sciences, Chief Researcher at the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the author of seven books on the history of merchants and philanthropy.